My son goes to Yale, he got into other schools early and got into Yale RD. What I will say is that I was happy about the schools he got into, one of which was on a par with SDSU. My feeling at the time was that if he excelled at this university that he would have in some ways a better chance at graduate school, or life, than at Yale. The opportunities at Yale are amazing, there is no way around that, but my sense is is that is true everywhere, its just more incumbent on the student to seek those opportunities out which is why, in my sons case at least, he is at Yale in the first place. He was that kind of kid in high school, he was extraordinarily self motivated . If you are that type of person I genuinely believe that it doesnt matter a bit where you go to school and if you arent that kind of person it doesnt matter where you go either. Im sure there are plenty of students squandering their opportunities at Yale and other ivies. The bottom line is that whether you intend to transfer or not you have to “invest” in where you go to school, in your case SDSU. If you dont you couldnt possibly hope to excel to the level that would get the requisite grades and recs. Just excel and excellence will follow.
And let me say that while you doubt that Yale adcoms are that elitist, you sure seem to be.
Yale might take a transfer applicant from SDSU. But that applicant will have to make a very, very compelling case for it, including (1) stellar performance at SDSU, including stellar recommendations from professors there, and (2) a very strong reason for transferring to Yale, specifically. This is a pretty tall order. But I would note that this is what you need, more or less, if you want to transfer “up,” that is, from a less selective to a more selective college.
@wchatar2 I’m certainly not planning on matriculating at Yale for undergrad. I just wanted to see if it would even be worth it to apply to a school that has already rejected me; I’ll be setting my sights on less selective top 30s, with schools like Yale as uber-reaches.
If I’m an elitist for wanting to achieve the best possible education for myself, than by that logic your son is as well. You just stated yourself that Yale has immense opportunities. My goal is to go into public service, and I have already made plenty of opportunities for myself just by networking alone. I will continue to delve into my passions in college, but obviously aspiring politicians certainly have a leg up on everyone else coming from a school that offers a tight social network of potential movers and shakers.
First of all, why arent you in school?
My son is a networker too, honestly his “network” led him to another school which he got into early. Yale, at my suggestion, was the only school he applied to RD. I guess my point is that “movers and shakers” are everywhere and in some ways its easier to get recognized at places that arent so highly charged. I have a couple of friends who were accepted at ivies and chose to go to public universities BECAUSE they were considering careers in politics. That has worked out for them.
@wchatar2 Hahaha I am in school, we’re just not doing anything in any of my classes. It’s actually painful to be here right now…second semester cannot end any faster!!
I definitely agree that there are movers and shakers everywhere. I just find that the environment at top schools is a lot more ambitious as a whole. I wouldn’t be planning on transferring if I was at a top state school and/or at a public school in a state I could see myself residing in for politics, but SDSU doesn’t exactly have a super prestigious reputation in CA and I most probably will not want to run for office here.
" but SDSU doesn’t exactly have a super prestigious reputation"
Now you sound like an elitist Yale admissions officer.
@8bagels Just because SDSU isn’t an Ivy-equivalent doesn’t mean that a student’s hard work and ambition should be chucked out the door at the mere sight of their school. A 4.0 is impressive, period. If anything, a top notch record at a school known for massive grade deflation like at HYS should be discounted.
I would say that a 4.0 from anywhere isn’t going to cut it. You have to do something really extraordinary for make a jump way up in terms of selectivity. That’s just my feeling though, I could be wrong. I would just really implore you to make an impact on where you end up rather than look for something else. But best of luck to you.
You’re already dealing with a 3% transfer acceptance rate. The Yale adcom is going to chuck out the door almost every transfer applicant’s hard work and ambition.
@8bagels Don’t get me wrong, I know how competitive it is for transfers. I’m just noting that your suggestion that my chances will be diminished coming from SDSU in particular was unfounded.
@wchatar2 Yeah, I’m definitely going to try and make my college my home and to try to stand out both inside and outside of my classroom. Thanks for the advice!